Scotland has been England’s junior partner in the United Kingdom since 1707. But three centuries is no time at all in the view of many Scots, who regularly re-enact 14th century sword battles they had with the English and have insisted on self-determination, on and off, ever since. That prospect is now nearer than ever. Scottish voters will decide Thursday whether to become independent once again.

Here’s a look at the referendum and the issues.

Q: What will voters consider exactly?

A: The question on the ballot is simple: “Should Scotland be an independent country?”

Q: How did a seemingly fruitful union reach the breaking point?

A: It was Prime Minister David Cameron who insisted on a vote in a deal in 2012, excluding a third option of giving the Scots more autonomy (which he is now offering anyway).

Q: Who’s who?

A: The pro-independence campaign is led by Alex Salmond, whose Scottish National Party won an unexpected majority in the Scottish Parliament in 2011. He is promising Scots that they can keep everything they like about the union — the queen, the pound, the BBC and free health care — and get rid of everything they do not like, like austerity and the Conservative Party of Cameron. Scots have long leaned more to the left politically than their English neighbors.

The anti-independence camp, which calls itself Better Together, is a coalition of British political parties. It politely advocates a vote of “no thanks,” appealing to a shared sense of history and Britishness. It is spending much of its time telling Scots that if they vote for independence they can never share the pound — or go back.

Q: What is at stake?

A: One might expect the referendum to be a question of national identity, of men in skirts and whiskey and “Braveheart” nostalgia, but hard economics have dominated the debate: What currency will Scotland use? How will revenue from North Sea oil reserves be divided (or will it)? Who will shoulder the burden of public debt?

If Scotland votes to separate, it will take 18 months of negotiations before independence is declared. And judging from the tone of the campaign, it will be a messy and acrimonious divorce.

Scotland already administers many of its own affairs. After a referendum in 1997, it set up its own parliament and controls health, education, housing, justice and a portion of taxation. But some economists say an independent Scotland would be too poor to keep up its welfare state, let alone expand it.

And as if to give a taste of the economic uncertainty that would come after a yes vote, the pound has slumped in recent weeks and several banks and businesses have threatened to flee south of the border should voters choose independence.

Britain also has a lot on the line: If Scotland and its more pro-European voters leave, Britain might leave the European Union.

Q: Who can vote?

A: Teenagers! In a compromise struck between Cameron and Salmond, the referendum will be open to voters as young as 16, even though the national voting age is 18. Only residents of Scotland can vote. But that has not deterred expatriate Scots or really anybody else from joining the fray. The actors Sean Connery, Brian Cox, Alan Cumming and separatists from Texas to Kurdistan are among those cheering for independence. Mick Jagger, Sting, David Bowie, David Beckham, Pope Francis and President Barack Obama are among those urging Britain to stay together.

Q: Which side is winning?

A: Until recently, the anti-independence campaign maintained a comfortable lead in opinion polls. But as the referendum approaches, the two sides are neck and neck.

Q: Will the queen have to go?

A: Salmond, the Scottish National Party leader, thinks Queen of the Scots is a “fantastic title” and has promised fellow Scots that they get to keep Elizabeth II as their head of state, Canadian-style (although future Scottish voters could always change that).

This seems to work for Scottish voters, who remain in favor of the monarchy albeit by a much smaller margin than their English counterparts. The queen herself, meanwhile, who has reigned over the disintegration of the British Empire, seems less impressed. After news reports suggesting that she was horrified by the prospect of her kingdom being further dismembered, she urged voters, somewhat cryptically, to “think very carefully about the future.”

Scotland and England have been united under a single monarchy since the Scottish king, James VI, inherited the English throne from Queen Elizabeth in 1603. The queen, whose own mother was Scottish, spends a week every year at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, the official royal residence in Scotland, and her summers at Balmoral Castle.

Q: What would Britain look like without Scotland?

A: When Billy Bragg, an Englishman who is a staunch supporter of Scottish independence, sang “Take Down the Union Jack” and it climbed up the British music charts in 2002, the year Queen Elizabeth II was celebrating 50 years on the throne, few would have thought that it could become a legitimate call.

Bragg’s lyrics now sound less preposterous:

“Britain isn’t cool, you know. It’s really not that great. It’s not a proper country, it doesn’t even have a patron saint.”

Certainly, if Scots vote to secede Thursday, Britain will be less great: It will lose 5.3 million people, more than 8 percent of its population.

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